The Cavaliers were more rested than the Lakers, having been off since Wednesday, and had been steamrollering teams by an average of 15.7 points at Quicken Loans Arena, becoming only the fourth team to start out 23-0 at home since the NBA-ABA merger in 1976.

They hadn't lost at home since a playoff game last April against Washington. Furthermore, the Lakers hadn't won in Cleveland since a 111-106 overtime victory in February 2004.

Handmade signs around the arena predicted the Lakers' demise: "Kobe -- Bow Down To King James" and, more succinctly, "Beat the Fakers."

It was a very real victory, in many ways, and it ended an almost surreal trip.

The only other Lakers team to go 6-0 on a trip was the 1999-2000 version, part of a 19-game winning streak on the way to the first of three consecutive championships.

That trip came against some of the league's weaker teams, while this one finished against the top two teams in the East.

Best trip in Lakers history?

"To play the two best teams in the league other than ourselves and to come out with wins, and to not slip up against the inferior teams . . . I think that arguably could be true," Fisher said.